"What makes my town the town that it is?" Now that is an exceptional question.

Had to stop half way through to comment. Don't get too hooked up on labelling your genre of photography. Your town is full of opportunities to shoot, and I would rather see your authentic style in this environment than try to make it something it's not. To me living in Australia your town looks straight out of a movie, with its flagged porches and that Fire Station! It's probably one of those situations where everyone thinks the grass is always greener in someone else's town!

Your video is a breath of fresh air in our fast-paced world. Capturing the quiet beauty of small-town life with such stunning visuals is incredible. The moody atmosphere perfectly encapsulates the soul of these communities. The melancholic tone is deeply evocative. Thank you for sharing this important perspective. It’s a must-watch for anyone who appreciates the beauty of the ordinary.

I recently went through this mental reframing since I'm living in a very quiet rural place. One thing I keep in mind is that a view that seems so mundane and every day to me could be very interesting to someone in another part of the world. Also, there's a beauty in capturing the subtleness and nuance that surrounds us.

I really love what you're saying here. And I like your photographs a lot. I'd like to make a suggestion. Please reconsider the active film dust background you use behind the stills. They don't need it, and it really, really distracts from the images. It works under the titles where you've used it, but I find it very hard to see the still images with the visual destruction of the dancing motes around them. Thank you for what you're doing, and keep up the good work.

I have watched many videos on street photography, but your short one here, opened my eyes (and mind) to a whole new outlook. Thank you

HI Jared, really enjoyed your vid. I think your town looks great. I'm in the UK, but love America, but never taken the time to do street photography in a small town. But you mentioned 'New England', top of the East coast and a beautiful part of the country. You must know that there are people who live in cities, who would pay a fortune to live in your small town. Peace and quiet, possibly low crime, cheaper. You have to love your town. Keep up the good work, stay safe, all the best.

Thanks so much for this. Great photos, great advice , inspiring. I’ll be documenting my small city.

Great topic, great job here. Love your thoughtful images! Such an important point of view…there are so many big city shooters…all looking for odd people, strange signs…cheap shots many times…like shooting fish in a barrel with spray shooting. Slowing down to look has great value and you’re right, it’s all documenting life. Keep up the good work!

Sorry I was washing the pots and listening and missed the fact that you had shown Dan Baker's Name. I live across the river in the City and he photographs my childhood playground seaside experiences and thus brings back memories which is great for me as i don't have any photos of those days. But some good memories.

Just found your channel today and was inspired by this video. I live in a small sea side town on the south coast of England and I too find it refreshing to just go out and shoot what I can find. Totally agree with you that you don't need a big city to shoot great images. Looking forward to seeing more.

This work is so good. I think you have many places, I can see much in your video. I live in town more small and always are much think to take in photo. I am Mexicano citizen. And I live neer to México City. Thanks for sharing.

Really enjoyed your video. A refreshing change from the fast paced ones shooting in London and New York etc. We all need to slow down and observe our local environment. If we look closely there are photo opportunities everywhere

I appreciate this video and shooting my in my small town is the same, and I often struggle to compare what I can do here vs the youtubers. Well made video and sentiment.

Very nice. I relate completely. I moved to a much smaller town some years ago and it took me a while to realize that ther is so much to photo, document and see the beauty. I have a project called 1 km (yes, in Canada) where I photograph things within a 1 km radius of my home while walking the dog. Every time, the light is different and the people are are different. There are days with different events and celebrations. And the changing seasons make the same old vistas different throughout the year.

Nice pace, interesting content, timely topic, great video! I live in a large but very rural county in Washington State, with one town of population 2000, the county seat. Several other towns with 500 or so people, and the rest is forest, mountain or pasture. Lots of nice scenery, so landscape photography is abundant, but I've been trying some street shooting as a change of pace. I'd like to add one more to your list of things to try. I start out each session by looking for light, lines and shapes. Once my eye gets 'tuned in', I start to see opportunities to add the human element. Sometimes, or often, it means finding a good composition and then having to wait for someone to walk through. Tempering expectations, as you mentioned, is key. But getting a good image under challenging conditions has it's rewards! I hope you do more videos on this theme! And, love the kitty in the window!

I soooo get this video and relate. This is an amazing video. I love your town. So much character. Wow!

This was extremely inspirational. I live in a smaller town...this gave me some great ideas...and motivation to go out and shoot...thank you so much!

I really enjoyed this video because it really hit home with me!! I live in a small town (population 9,000) and have had trouble photographing people because it seems they are suspicious of their photographs being taken - even though I have lived here for 40 years and am known. I have even attempted to photograph using my cell phone and old digi-cams so to not stand out carrying a DSLR. Again, a great video!! Best of luck in your photography journey! Best, Duane

Lovely video. 10:03 epic shot right there good work.

I was just looking up small town photography, and glad I came across your video. I’m from RI and this is all we have to work with

Great. Magical. Thank you!

It's strange i live in a pretty boring town in England not far from London and i go into London often for street photography and it just feels natural. I have never thought about walking around my town and documenting it as it would feel strange but you are right i am sure i could find something interesting to photograph and i will give it a try, nice video.

Nice video, beautiful places, very informative, super like 521, wonderful sharing my friend 👍🙂📸📷❤️😍😊

Excellent New England postcard. I love the exterior building colors. Great night shots. You captured the town. Thanks for your making this video and delivering these perfect images. Look forward to your channel updates!

Always a joy seeing you've posted a new video! This is such an apt one for me as well. I've been trying to motivate myself to just go anywhere and see what happens. I'd always rather be out attempting to take photos over staying home sad I can't go somewhere "interesting" to a nonexistent idea of a person I imagined would look at my photos.

I am so glad i just ran across this video. I live in a small town and jumped into street photography and have been wondering about how to do it. This helped perfectly.

Sorry for my earlier question about the mains. But thank you for your idea to tell about our local environment and which can relate to historical events.

Great video, definitely lots of good suggestions on where or what to shoot..especially in small towns. I live just north of Rhode Island, been there a thousand times and always without a camera, with lots of places by the ocean to capture is helpful, especially when you think there's nothing to capture. I'm inspired by this video to go out and get "downtown" and shoot, and walk and shoot. Thanks

wonderful video, I love it. I do something similar in my small village were I live, here in Germany. you are absolutely right, taking pictures in your neighborhood is a challenge but very intereseting.

Thanks for this video. I’ve been in a really long slump recently and trying to get out there. This is going to help me a lot.

Really Enjoyed the video Jared. Refreshing and inspiring. Thanks!

One of best vids covering this topic. Well done.

Nice video, glad I stopped by! I live (born, raised and still live) in a town approximately 6-10 miles, depending, from your town! My daughter got married there. Aidens, Robertos, to name two fav places...this is so cool......Thanks.

the first video ive seen on this subject that worked for me. thanks

Very well done - you got me thinking about my smallish town - thanks and subscribed.

Great video Jared. I live in a small town in Iowa of 10,000 people and have been photographing the town, especially the downtown, on and off for over 15 years. Many of your photos of your town have a familiarity to me. I do go to the various festivals and parades that provide more people photographing opportunities. I shoot with a 50 mm lens.

Wonderful peaceful and thoughtful video which has refreshened my thoughts about photographing my small town.😊

Very inspiring video and the presentation, your voice together with the music you've chosen is awesome!

Awesome video. My hometown, Westport, Ma. (We're practically neighbors!!) is small also. Your video has given me some ideas tho. Thanks! Subscribed.

Really great points you make. My favourite is that we maybe the first to document our small home town. A real eye-opener!

I'm grateful that this video reached me in a small town in southern Brazil! I'm going out to shoot, thank you!

Brilliant and inspirational. Thanks for sharing!

Good job ! Subscribed and liked. Keep it up. I am familiar with all of the street photographers that you mentioned in the video. Keep going.

Thanks for this video! I’ve lived in big cities like Vancouver, B.C. and New Delhi, but I found I had to make this same switch when I moved home to Salt Lake City, Utah, to take care of family business. I knew I’d be here for at least a few years, so I decided to pivot my photography towards documenting a city that’s become one of the fastest changing/growing in the US. Part of that impetus came from my coming back from living in India for a few years and seeing how drastically my home town had changed in the time I’d been gone. A lot of the charm and history had been lost, so I made it a personal mission to document what was left and what it was turning into. Right now it’s just a personal project on a separate IG account from my professional profile, but I’m doing it for the love of doing so. I’m finding the act of creating for the sake of creating incredibly fulfilling so far. Maybe some day I’ll publish the whole project, or maybe I’ll donate it to the city, who knows. Anyways, great vid, keep up the good work!

Loved the video, greetings from Spain

Love the picture of the dog in the window. Great one. Nice video

Definitely slower paced but not mundane,you have a good eye! Thanks for the link to Dan Baker. Cleethorpes wss the town i was born in but left 67 yesrs ago! Keep shooting😊

Enjoyed that Jared I subbed you I live by the sea in a small sea side resort in England it slows right down in the winter time but summer can get very busy at times I like to shoot B&W mainly I like your photography and I understand what you mean about small towns I do go to big cities Mainly Manchester and Liverpool and do Street photography but not all the time its mostly on my door step that I do work.......

I live near small towns and in a rural area. I also visit many small towns as part of my job. I also love farms and old barns and homesteads. Rural areas and small towns have become my main interest because most photographers ignore them. I find rich history and culture in the small places. Thank you for a nice video on this subject.

Great video! And great shots!

Your voice and the music sets the mood. Excellent video.

Nailed the pronunciation on Cleethorpes! Really enjoyed this perspective as a fellow small town inhabitant 🙂

Also I really love your edits

Nice. Thanks for this. It's relevant to the other 99% of us.

Very, very well done, Jared. I live in a small town & do a lot of shooting here. Since it’s usually fairly quiet (& I’m always concerned about bothering people), most shots are sans people. You are right - we are street shooters - documentarian/environment shooters. It’s kinda like “a rose is a rose,” right? Different places, different atmospheres, different personalities, different experiences - but we’re all photographers, shooting life as we discover it.

I enjoyed seeing your small town through your lens!

His name is Dan Baker. Cleethorpes Lincolnshire UK. Yes I like his posts as well. Enjoy the pastel colours and maybe in your editing bring those out Pastels , thus developing your colour style.

Your video really resonated with me... well done... I grew up in Cleveland, OH... but the smallest town I ever lived in was this town in Iowa with a population of about 150 people... (I think that count included farm animals 😉) I was the only Black man living there, so photo walks were quite interesting... not a lot of blending in going on if you know what I mean... anyway, I have a background in music and portrait photography... so my work became about my experience of living in this really small town... which was often quite lonely... Sometimes, I pretended I was visiting a small foreign country... that part of Iowa had been settled by people from Norway... so not a huge stretch... the point is, you're right, really had to slow down, breathe, and challenge myself creatively to keep going... thank you.

Inspirational. Thanks.

Just found you, Jared. Roman Fox is a big influence on my my street photography. My small town has down town of two streets that are cross roads. We only have about 2000 people. I am used to going to Melbourne, about 3 hours by train, just to do big city street. I have often thought of doing street at home, but struggle with the so different vibe. Your video has inspired me to see it differently and definitely worth trying. Cheers from down under.

Thanks for your insights.

Great ideas for my small town.

Good points

Great video, very inspiring, thanks for sharing 👍

Enjoyed your video, thought provoking

Well done! I think in the niche of street we get wrapped up in the big cities and forget about the towns or small cities we live in. There is a lot to photograph wherever you live. Just need to get out and find it 📸

Thanks for the info. Good video. I am thinking about doing some street photography myself. I don't live in a big city either. So seeing your video is inspiring. Keep shooting bro. Oh and I just subscribed to your channel.

Great video and vibe. 👏🏻

Keep it up! Your videos are amazing

I was watching your video, love it BTW, and noticed a bunch of scenes that looked so familiar and then saw the famous 4th Of July Parade route and realized you were in Bristol. I laughed out loud. We have been there many times to visit friends that grew up there. I felt like a local when I was there and even went to the Kinsmen for a few (too many) cocktails. You have a wonderful and historical town you live in and I would love to live there year round and photograph that beautiful New England town. Oh, my family is from New England, what a wonder area of the U.S.

Thanks for Sharing Brother! Great Tips, I'm going out to shoot my small town With a new mind set !

I became your 1000th subscriber because of this video ❤

Great video Jared. Calm and inviting to explore your town and mine. You should do a book Jared titled “My Town”

beautiful thank you your amazing

Hi from Australia 🇦🇺 Street photography 📸 is the image or images that you see . Everyone has their own story & street photography is not just the big cities it can be your neighbourhood or suburb. A single shot is looking through your eyes 👀 telling your story.

I’ve been shooting Bristol for years. Nice video.

I love this video!!! I live in a small town and sometimes I can't find anything interesting to shoot. But now with your tips it will be different!! Thanks a lot!! 🙏🏻 One question: Is it possible to take pictures of people and monetize the video on KZfaq without being sued?

Very good advice that I desperately needed. I will try shooting at 50mm or 85mm equivalent more. Also what was the Roman Fox video you were referring to about shifting your expectations?

I personally love the work of William Eggleston, truly inspiring. 🙏🏻

Interesting video, thanks.I’ve been photographing my smallish town for a while, here in the UK. One thing I’ve noticed more of, as time has gone on, is how many more security cameras and Ring doorbells have been cropping up everywhere, even in the ‘poorer’ (ie more photographically interesting 😉) areas of town. I’ve seen posts on local Facebook groups saying, ‘this person was taking pictures of my house, be wary People’ (not me, as far as I’m aware!) It’s making my photography task (which is just a hobby) so much more difficult when people are going around thinking I’m some kind of criminal. Sigh!

Thanks for your video and tips/inspiration. I won a photo contest over 50 years ago with a photo that I took in your town. It is Bristol,RI right? I have lived in Northern California for the last 40 years but I still reminisce about New England towns. You don't need big cities to capture great street photography.

100% yes.

Nice work

Soooooo good bro

Nice video. You don’t have to include a person or an animal in the picture but doing so gives a sense of scale.

Being smalltown oriented, your photos remind me of the kind I might see from William Eggleston or William Chrisenberry. They shot rural/small town South instead. I play in a medium sized town. I have an old small Sony digicam 4mp camera that I carry around my neighborhood, for similar film-like images.

Love this! I’m getting into street photography. I’m working with a canon ae1 program. What film would you recommend for night photography?

💙💙👍👍👍👍👍👍

I lived a few miles from Chicago the first 65 years of my life. We moved to a small rural town pop. 5,600 in 2016, it was certainly different! I concentrated on landscape photography because the novelty of rural farm life. Then started photographing 'in town' especially night photography. My local FaceBook postings were getting great comments and many likes, in fact I published a zine through Blurb with only night images, I sold over 60 copies. I'm not getting rich, but I do it for the joy of taking and sharing my images. I side note, none of my photos include people, I'm more interested in shapes, textures, light and documentation of the current conditions which are not always favorable or glamorous. Walker Evans has always been an influence to my photography, I shoot digital printing in B&W and color and the occasional infrared.

Empty spaces, full of sensations and emotion. nostalgic American streets that release film clichés. I let myself be carried away by the soul of these photos which speak without voice or movement. I am far away from you. but I felt what the image wants to communicate to us. Your comment; these images of the united states of america; I dedicate them to posterity.

Bristol is the best!

I just call it documentary photography. Street photography is a type of documentary photography (often the easiest type because you don't need permission/ access)

You want small town? come to Australia.

ill take small town photos over a big city any day..

A smaller town in the US? My question is not directly photographic. But why is the electricity grid so badly installed in poles? It really looks a bit underdeveloped. In Sweden, where I live, there are no power lines in poles. All power is distributed in cables in the ground, except for the national power grid. Excuse my question in this forum.

Whats with the ridiculous flickering

Regarding long focal lenses: I think it's not quite that easy. Is it still street photography? Sure. But I really don't like the voyeuristic style of standing 150 meters away and taking a full body shot of someone doing something completely normal. Those are simply not great photos, no matter the genre. It doesn't tell any relevsnt story, but only something like, "A guy is watering his bush." The fundamental idea of street photography is to find something special in the mundane and ordinary. Sniping people from a paparazzi position with a long lens almost never achieves this. There's a reason so many people use wide lenses. It's not just, "Look at how cool and brave I am to stand right in front of the people I photograph!!" Still, as I said, this doesn't at all mean you can't use long lenses. Saul Leiter used a 90mm lens VERY often. The thing is that you need to think about how to use it and why. If the only reason for using s long lens is that you can photograph people from far away where they don't see you, that's not enough. That's a reason for you as a person, it's about your fears, but it's not about your actual photography, and the images it produces. Great opportunities to work with long lenses would, for example, be to create abstraction - if you don't want to show a scene directly, instead crrate some mystery and questions; or to focus on layering, which can be a lot more pronounced and noticeable on a long lens; or to portray geometry, or highlight specific focal points - like how Saul Leiter often focused on umbrellas; or to play with reflections, which work a lot better when using a long focsl length. Stuff like this. Whatever your reasons are, they should be about image, artistic, and not simply about you being scared. You can of course still be scared, but you should change the style of your pictures when switching lenses. There are _still_ endless possibilities of what you can do using a long lens. It's just that sniping people doing things from far away will not produce good, meaningful pictures. You will look like a stalker instead and the image says more about you than about the story you should be telling. Summa summarum, you can do great street photography with using long focal lengths, but you need to think about actual artistic reasons for how you use it and adjust your approach accordingly.

After 10 years of epilepsy, I found this was all but unwatchable due to the unnecessary flickering. Shame, because it would have been an interesting video. Thanks for the headache, dude...